14. Who does the church planting?

a key question is ‘who gets to plant it?’ Who gets to join in with the Holy Spirit in helping this new church into being? Who will the church planting agent be?

Church plants are initiated in many ways by many different agents, and there is no right or wrong starting point. Sometimes a local church or a regional Baptist Association sees a need. A cluster of churches can sponsor the initiative or a pioneer church planter might be the driving force. Perhaps a church will church plant using their own resources, or recruit a professional or bi-vocational church planter, or enlist the services of a church planting agency.

The church might have homegroups in a particular part of town and it becomes clear they should become a church or congregation in their own right. These are just some of the answers to the question, who?

How many people will plant the church? At one end of the scale is the single church planter and at the other end a group of 100+ people who, from day one, can do Sunday services if they wish. With more people in the initial group there are more gifts, resources and mutual support, and the whole endeavour will be less risky, in that it will be less likely to fold. But the larger the group the more costly it will be to the sending, mothering or supporting church(es), and it will be far harder to resource multiple church plants, or for the church that is planted to plant a church until it has grown greatly in size.

Who does the church planting? By having a smaller initial church planting team there is an increased risk of ‘failure’ and the church plant will be vulnerable to one or two leaving, but it will be less costly to the sending church(es). If it is hoped that the new church will express the gospel in a different culture to the sending church(es) then a smaller group or individual will find it far easier to die to their own culture and get alongside the local community who can own the church, whereas a larger group will tend to impose an expression of church on a people group or area.

Church planting is exciting and attracts attention. Who will you allow to join the team, and what criteria will you use to decide? Also, in the early months and years of the church plant, what policy will you have to those Christians who wish to transfer to your church and to de-churched Christians joining who have a tendency to be cynical? Some church plants welcome them and others do not let them join. Will they add to the life of the church, or dilute the mission you are about to enter into? If you do let them join, and additional numbers are very tempting, it is vital that they are inducted into the values, mission and practices of the church, and you may want to give them a ‘probationary period’. If they join you, and on Sundays or at other times attend another church, how will that help and hinder your desire to immerse in God’s mission in that particular place with a particular group of unreached people?

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